Game Night.

I may not have mentioned this before, but my wife and I are game people. We love all sorts of games: card games, board games, word games, role playing games, etc. We both grew up playing games with our families, and still do to this day. Once we got married and moved back home-ish, we reconnected with a handful of my wife’s high school friends, as well as some friends we’ve had since elementary school, all married interestingly enough. After gathering sporadically throughout the year for random reasons, we decided to become more scheduled with the time we spent together and started trying to set up monthly hangouts, but we wanted to have a reason to come together monthly. Since we all love games, and are pretty competitive, we decided to implement monthly Game Night!

Game Nights soon became the most anticipated weekends of the month for our friend group, planning location, food, games, theme, and so on. To give you some clarity, here’s how we set it up.

First, hosting. Each couple alternates hosting the gathering and is in charge of decorating for the theme of the night and organizing the food and drinks. We always do potluck so that everyone pitches in on food and drink, but, depending on the theme, the host couple sometimes does something a little special.

Second, theme. I keep mentioning it, but have yet to describe it. Prior to closing out an awesome Game Night evening, we discuss as a group our schedule for the next month, who will host, and what the theme will be. Themes can align with current holidays or can be completely random. Halloween tends to be a favorite, but we’ve also had a lot of fun with Marti Gras, New Years Eve, Cinco de Mayo, and so many others. The theme dictates just about everything other than the games we play; for instance, food, drink, costumes, decorations, etc.

Third, games. The games we play vary widely, but what tends to be the most fun are role playing games. Believe it or not though, games are the one element to game night we don’t pre-plan (unless we do a pre-scripted murder mystery of course - in case you were wondering what was up with the above photo). Depending on the time of year we do different things. During the summer we may plan a 4th of July gathering, have a cookout, and play an assortment of lawn games, while during the winter we may cozy up in front of the TV and turn on Jackbox to play Quiplash. We’ve also had Game Nights where we don't play a single game because we are so caught up in conversation with one another.

There are two morals to this story and one critical reason this topic has been on my mind lately.

First and foremost, games are fun! They are also a great way to break the ice at a gathering, whether the audience is well known to you or not. Some of my most memorable moments growing up have been with extended family playing games that are intended to make the players crack up. While those games tend to be more creative, there are others that I have learned to love in my adulthood that are more “serious”, and offer the perfect reason for a handful of men (or women) to sit around a table, sip whiskey, and take each other's money. And for environments where you are meeting someone new, like say a friend's new significant other, a chill game could be a great way to get to know them a little better bypassing the awkward tension.

The other moral to the premise of Game Night lends itself to the reason I have been thinking about this so frequently. It’s about bringing people together. Whether they are your favorite people, casual friends, or new acquaintances, game nights create reason to bring people together, enjoy food, drink, and a whole lot of laughs. To be completely honest, we have not had a game night with our friend group in over a year now. Although we’ve seen each other at various times throughout the year (never all together), we haven’t been able to all gather safely due to the pandemic. Unfortunately, with my father-in-law's illness, and the virus plaguing a bunch of our friends' families, it just hasn't been worth the risk. What I didn’t realize until recently is the emotional toll this takes. My mind has been focused on family of late, but in the background I can't help but miss dressing up for a themed event, or planning a cool cocktail to make, but most of all gathering with some of my favorite people and resting in one another's company. People are everything. If the isolation from this pandemic taught us anything (outside of better sanitation practices of course), it is the importance of community and human interaction.

As I am sure many can attest, I never knew how strongly my wife and I relied on simple events such as game night to support our mental health and wellbeing. When this is all over, I encourage you all to obviously reconnect with those you haven't been able to, but also to take it to new levels! Try gathering more frequently and intentionally with your closest people, maybe planning a game night ;). We are all living life, and experience different things every day, so why not live it with others, leaning on each other for support and encouragement. This philosophy has helped mold me into the man I am today, and I am forever grateful for the individuals who have been in my life since day one, as well as those who have grown with me in more recent years. Tap into your people, be vulnerable, support unconditionally, it is worth it.

Hope you enjoyed the week end read,

Dionisio III